PITTSBURGH.- Nine international contemporary artists will break new ground  metaphorically and physically  in an upcoming exhibition that will test the limitations and possibilities of the Mattress Factorys galleries. The artists, who hail from six countries, include Luca Buvoli, Daniel Canogar, David Ellis, Mark Garry, Yumi Kori, Sarah Oppenheimer, Tavares Strachan, Allison Smith, and Mary Temple.

At the Mattress Factory, the installations by these artists defy the twodimensional
surfaces of each gallery by penetrating the walls and floors, offering new perceptions of actual space  rupturing notions of here and now. Collectively, these artists works employ a great variety of materials, from hand-made crafts to fiber optics, from painting to electronic projection, from simple string to advanced robotics. Many have taken the Mattress Factorys permanent installations, notably
those by James Turrell and Yayoi Kusama that share the building, as inspiration.

Inner and Outer Space includes projects that investigate the personal and collective experience of time and space; the experience of travel and flight, gravity and speed, and visual and sensory perception. The works illuminate the interplay of relationships that coexist between the private/interior, public/ exterior, social/political and human/natural/cosmic realms.
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The inner and outer space theme -- the conceptual underpinning for the exhibition -- not only relates to the form and content of the work but also an approach to artistic practice. The artists will create installations both inside and outside the Mattress Factory building. Works will extend beyond the gallery walls; spilling out into the immediate Mattress Factory grounds and into the city of Pittsburgh -- to other remote locations, says Meyers-Kingsley.

Following the impetus for creating public dialogue with audiences beyond the art world, a number of artists are working collaboratively with other Pittsburgh institutions and local artisans to realize their projects.